15th - 16th January
She knew that she should have the light on but there was something about the dark that helped her write. She turned to look at her clock on her bedside table. It was 23:58.
Clara sighed into her hands. She had been trying to finish a story on labour's new caps on fat, salt and sugar if they were elected, but she had been hit by writers block and it was frustrating. She didn't want to give the Doctor anything else to be angry about.
She could feel that her eyes were stinging from the glare of her laptop. She rubbed them before pushing the laptop off her lap. She dragged a hand through her hair as she walked from the bedroom to the kitchen and yawned as she flicked on the kettle. She rested her head on one of the cupboards and closed her eyes as it boiled. She would hear when it had finished.
She rushed to make her coffee and made it back to her laptop. She had just realise how she was going to word it. Clara typed furiously as she tried to get it finished. If she finished it tonight, it would mean that she had more time to focus on a report on education tomorrow morning when she got into work.
Clara was on a roll when her phone buzzed on her bedside table. She picked up up to see The Doctor's name lit up the screen. She sighed heavily before answering it. She didn't really want to stop typing because she would lose her train of thought. Also speaking to him would make her forget what she was thinking at that moment.
"Give me a second." She said into the phone before she threw it next to her. She quickly finished off the paragraph she was on. It may have taken her a bit longer than she had expected but at least it was done.
She picked back up her phone.
"Sorry."
"I would like to remind you Miss Oswald, you are the one to wait for me. Not the other way round."
"I have said I am sorry. If you called ..." She looked at her clock again. "… 20 minutes ago, I could have been all yours. Been trying to write something on these caps for the past hour. You, unfortunately had to call when I was actually on a roll." She took a deep breath. "How can I help you?"
He seemed a bit apprehensive to reply. "I have just found out that there are going to be three live tv debates. One is going to be a seven way debate between the parties. That one will be good hopefully. I want you to get on it. See what you can find out already about them. I want you to speculate what they could be like. I want our readers to be excited about them."
Clara pinched the bridge of her nose. He was calling her at midnight to tell her that. Why couldn't he have waited until the morning?
"Yes. I will get on to it after I have finished this."
"I have high hopes for it. Night."
"Night." She said as he hung up.
She stared at her laptop for a while. The infuriating idiot. If she didn't have neighbours that hated her, she would have screamed. Was nothing she did good enough for him?
Clara didn't understand why she was so angry with him. But somehow it pushed her on to finish the article she was writing. She pressed save on it and looked at the clock. It showed 2:00. She would be lucky to get 4 hours sleep. She closed the laptop and placed it on the floor. She would look up the debates on her commute.
Clara yawned loudly. Her eyes watered and she resisted the temptation to rest her head on the desk. She felt so tired.
"Maybe this will help."
She looked up at Amy and gave her a smile as she took the mug out of her hand. "Thanks." She took a long sip and leaned back in her chair. "When did you get use to the lack of sleep?" She asked.
Amy laughed at her as she sat down. "My columns rarely come home with me. If they do, it is just to read through them or added a few finishing touches. You were a bit unfortunate. You do have the two that are constantly changing."
Clara took a few moments to drink her coffee and close her eyes. She didn't even realise that the Doctor had come in until her chair moved and she woke up.
"With us now Miss Oswald." He raised his eyebrows at her.
"Yes sorry." She didn't realise why she was apologising.
"Are you on track? Have you done anything on the tv debates yet?"
"Oh yeah, halfway through now." She nodded. "Will get it done. Maybe only just but it will get done."
"Good. Maybe if you didn't fall asleep on the job, you would get it done with time to spare." He said as he left the room.
She placed down her mug before she threw it across the room after him.
"Have you ever wanted to slap him before?" Clara said to Amy. "He rang me at about half past 12 last night to tell me about those poxy tv debates. He knew I was up late last night trying to finish an article. I swear he now does it on purpose. I think he is out to get me."
Rory snorted.
Amy looked over at her husband before addressing Clara. "He is not out to get you. Yes I have wanted to slap him before. I even think I did. It just takes him a bit of time to get use to new people. You will reach his expectations and then you will probably become his favourite writer. You are writing the political side of the paper. It is the part he cares about most."
Clara sighed before turning back to her laptop. It was just another 2 hours before the deadline. She could do it. She would prove him wrong.
